VTS Board, Management and Team

Neil is the Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board (LSB) and an Executive member of the Board. The LSB is the oversight regulator for the legal regulators in England and Wales. It is independent of Government and of the legal profession.

Before joining the LSB, Neil was Director of Investigations at Ofcom, where he led a team responsible for enforcing competition law and the regulatory rules that apply to the communications sector. The team was also responsible for Ofcom’s dispute resolution functions. His previous roles at Ofcom included Director of Consumer Policy.

Neil qualified as a Solicitor in 1990 and worked for a number of law firms in the City of London, specialising in international private arbitration.

Neil has a Master’s degree in Regulation from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in law from Hertford College, Oxford University.

Stephen Chappell is a solicitor. He has spent the majority of his legal career in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). His last role in the CPS was as Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East Midlands. Since leaving the CPS in late 2015 Stephen has developed a portfolio career with an interest in professional conduct issues. Stephen works for the Bar Standards Board (the regulatory arm of the Bar Council) and is a Legally Qualified Chair of Police Misconduct Hearings. Stephen is also a Lay Panel Member of the Primary Care Appeals Service dealing with appeals relating to the establishment and relocation of NHS pharmacies and GP dispensing services.
In addition, Stephen has been appointed as a Lay Advisory Committee Member which recommends magistrates for appointment. Stephen is also a Panel Chair at the Valuation Tribunal for England.

Kevin is a longstanding Senior Member of the Valuation Tribunal for England.  He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Catenae Innovation PLC and a Senior Associate of Marylebone Executive Search.   Kevin is also a Business/Education Advisor, having previously served as a Chief Executive of a City law firm and as a Director on a number of commercial and not for profit Boards.

Gary is a barrister called to the Bar of Inner Temple in 1989. He joined the Crown Prosecution Service and served in a number of roles including the International Branch dealing with complex international cases. As part of the international effort to normalize Kosovo Gary was seconded to UN mission as prosecutor helping to re-establish justice in that area. After a short spell back in the UK he moved on to the Hague as trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Previously, Gary was an elected member of the Bar Council, where he served for a number of years including being a member of the Professional Conduct and Law Reform Committees. In 2000 Gary was appointed an Asylum Support Adjudicator and then in 2003, he was appointed a Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, responsible for the northeast, HMRC and the SOCA and played a part in the set up and roll out of the new system. Using some of that experience Gary was appointed as Deputy Chief Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales, again helping to set up a new system for dealing with complaints about legal professionals, working with the professions and other stakeholders to deal with complaints in a less combative way. These latter roles involved significant issues of administrative and regulatory law, together with governance issues of NDPBs.

Gary is also a qualified trainer, mediator and a deputy district court judge.

Alison is a senior member, sitting as Chairman of the Valuation Tribunal. She is a District Judge of the County Court, trying civil and family cases, having served as a Deputy District Judge in the County Court for one year.

Alison was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 2001 and was previously a District Judge sitting in the First Tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) for three years.

Before becoming a Judge, Alison was a barrister, practising in the areas of civil and criminal law. She had a property, regulatory and injury practice, appearing before various courts and regulatory bodies. She was also a Board member and Secretary of her Chambers Management Board.

Alison is a Practitioner Tutor on the Bar course at the University of Law and an accredited mediator and accredited advocacy trainer.

Alison has recently graduated from the London School of Economics with a Master’s degree in Corporate and Commercial Law.

Suzanne is the Chair of the Joint Audit Panel of the Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Service, Chair of Depaul UK, a charity concerned with youth homelessness, and Chair of the Fire Standards Board. She is a member of the Advertising Standards Authority and the Fundraising Regulator and chairs its Standards Committee.  She is the Independent Appointed Person for the Greater London Authority and a member of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. Suzanne is also a non-executive director of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.  Before entering the public sector, Suzanne worked as a solicitor in private practice and was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Manchester.  During her central Whitehall career she worked at HM Treasury and served as Private Secretary to two Home Secretaries.

Lola Moses is a practising Solicitor, an accredited Mediator and chartered governance professional. She has a wide range of legal experience, with a particular focus on property, commercial law, employment law, regulatory and governance matters. Lola is the Director of Legal for Codility, an international technology company. Lola’s previous roles include Head of Legal, Compliance and Data for STA Travel and General Counsel & Company Secretary for VisitBritain.

In her spare time, Lola participates in a number of voluntary activities, including her role as a Panel Chair at the Valuation Tribunal for England and her role on the Council for the University of Reading.

Harry Rich is Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Chair of the Intellectual Property Office, non-executive director of the Press Recognition Panel, governor of the Glasgow School of Art, an Executive Coach and business advisor. He is a non-practising solicitor, Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Harry was Chief Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects and of Enterprise UK, Deputy Chief Executive of the Design Council and developed and sold two businesses. He has been a board member of the Advertising Standards Authority, the UK government’s Creative Industries Council and the US-based Design Management Institute.

A qualified chartered surveyor, Tony has over 30 years’ experience in local taxation appeals, having led on a number of changes, addressed numerous conferences and authored many articles on the subject.

Tony was the Clerk and chief judicial advisor to the London (North East) Valuation Tribunal from 1993, having joined it in 1988. He was appointed Corporate Director of the new, national VTS from 1 April 2004 and became its Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer in 2009.

In addition to holding professional memberships of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Chartered Institute of Building, Tony is a Fellow of the Institute of Rating, Revenues and Valuation (IRRV), the Institute of Financial Accountants and the Chartered Management Institute.

Tony has served on professional bodies such as the IRRV’s Council, the RICS Local Taxation Panel; he is currently a co-opted member of the Rating Surveyors’ Association.

Lee started his career in local government in 1988, working for a number of years across revenues and benefits departments dealing with domestic rating, non-domestic rating, community charge and council tax.

Lee initially joined the VTS in a technical capacity as a hearing clerk. Since 2007 he has specialised in organisational management, holding a number of senior management positions. During his time with the VTS Lee has been actively involved in a number of organisational change programmes providing ongoing efficiency savings and realigning front line services to meet changing stakeholder requirements.

Lee was appointed to his current role as Director of Operations and Development in 2014. He holds a degree in organisation and management, and PRINCE2 and MSP practitioner qualifications.

Lee is a member of the IRRV Qualification Management Board and acts as moderator across a number of Institute examinations. He sits on a number of external professional liaison groups and has presented papers at an extensive range of national conferences and seminars.